Systematic Review: Do We Need a New Gastro-Oesophageal Reflux Disease Questionnaire?

Abstract

Background: Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is highly prevalent in Western countries. Because the majority of patients do not present with endoscopic abnormalities, the assessment of the symptom severity and quality of life, and their response to treatment, has become increasingly important. Self-assessed symptom questionnaires are now key instruments in clinical trials. Aim: To evaluate the validity of available GERD measurement tools. Methods: An ideal GERD symptom assessment instrument, suitable as a primary end-point for clinical trials, should possess the following characteristics: (i) be sensitive in patients with GERD; (ii) cover the frequency and intensity of typical and atypical GERD symptoms; (iii) be multidimensional (cover all symptom dimensions); (iv) have proven psychometric properties (validity, reliability and responsiveness); (v) be practical and economical; (vi) be self-assessed; (vii) use ‘word pictures’ which are easy to understand for patients; (viii) respond rapidly to changes (responsiveness over short time intervals); (ix) be used daily to assess changes during and after therapy; and (x) be valid in different languages for international use. Results: A literature review revealed five scales that met some of the above characteristics, but did not fulfil all criteria. Conclusion: There is a need for a new evaluative tool for the assessment of GERD symptoms and their response to therapy.

Molecular mechanisms in therapy of acid-related diseases

“…The most promising thus far is a broad 'dimension-oriented' symptom evaluation tool termed ReQuest ™ [74,75]. This extensive patient questionnaire groups symptoms in 'clusters,' such as acid complaints, upper abdominal/stomach complaints, lower abdominal/ digestive complaints, nausea, sleep disturbances and others, and also contains a general well-being dimension.…”

Abdominal Symptom-related QOL in Individuals Visiting an Outpatient Clinic and those Attending an Annual Health Check

“…GSRS has been widely used to measure abdominal symptom-specific QOL impairments and is reported to clearly show the QOL changes in response to treatment in Japanese patients with abdominal symptoms (11,12). However, in contrast to the GSRS and other general QOL scales, the Izumo scale was designed to detect QOL changes caused by abdominal symptoms frequently noted by Japanese patients (13)(14)(15). By this instrument, we have shown that the intensity of abdominal symptoms and the abdominal symptom-specific QOL impairment dissociate in certain conditions and that the measurement of QOL is important in the treatment of patients with abdominal symptoms (5).…”

Effect on Acid Reflux Symptoms Occurring during Sleep of an Oral Adhering Disc Containing only Food Ingredients

“…However, studies assessing questionnaire methodology suggest that memory issues may be lessened by regularly providing questions that are repeated in the exact same order and wording which was the approach used in this study [56]. Further, the specific questions used to assess the presence of symptoms were based on other previously validated self-reported questionnaires assessing potential GERD [57][58][59][60].…”